Hey Sipherians! As we move along our journey to deliver an exceptional gaming experience with SIPHER, there are some significant changes that will be happening to the roadmap moving forward. The purpose of this announcement is to provide you with an update on the expected changes to the deliverables coming your way in 2022.

Note: The original publication date of this article was March 2, 2022.

ROADMAP UPDATES AND CHANGES

Sipherian Charge: BURU NFT Launch 

We know that some of you are very excited about the release of our upcoming character: the BURU 

However, the launch of this character will be delayed to late Q2 2022.

Why will BURU get delayed?

There are two primary reasons for this.

1. What we consider to be the most important reason for this delay is that we simply cannot release another Genesis NFT character until the SIPHER Game Economy is 100% complete. As we discussed during our recent Fireside chat with the Community Team Director, Nghia Nguyen (Peekaboo), as well as throughout our three-part article on the SIPHER Game Economy series (linked to the left under ‘Related Links’): NFTs that are released to our players — which will later be included in our game — will play a huge role that will affect how the SIPHER Economy functions and sustains itself. Therefore, releasing an NFT just for the sake of releasing it at this point might cause serious repercussions once we launch the game.
2. The second reason is that the majority of the team is focused on developing the in-game assets for all our game characters, especially the BURU, and as such our focus will be to showcase a playable BURU before we release the character as a Genesis NFT. We will be sharing the animations and further development progress of the BURU as we move forward.

Due to this change, the first BURU snapshot for The Collector’s Program will also be delayed to mid Q2 of 2022

Similarly, mention of any other characters has been removed from the Roadmap and from the Collector’s Program. Don’t worry, there will be more playable characters in the World of Sipheria and you will still have benefits for being a Collector after BURU. However, we want to ensure that we consider the two reasons above before we specify a release date for these.

NEKO Dutch Auction Tier Rewards

Sculptures

The sculptures are complete and we are now finalizing the packaging that comes along with this amazing sculpture.

All eligible wallets who purchased a NEKO during the Dutch Auction (falling within Diamond, Platinum, or Gold tiers) will be able to claim their respective Sculpture NFT on April 1, 2022.

Holders of this sculpture NFT can use it once to redeem the physical sculpture and have it delivered to their location of preference. To redeem, they would need to navigate to their User Dashboard within our website and complete the redemption process. Additionally, given that these are NFTs with proof of ownership, you can trade them on the open market as well!

This is the v1 of our sculpture box design

SIPHER sculpture (INU) packaging

Have a peek at the sculptures. They would look like this! 

Close-up of NEKO Dutch Auction sculptures in the SIPHER office

Merchandise

We were super excited to allow eligible members to claim their SIPHER merchandise from the Dutch Auction Rewards (All Tiers).

However, the release of this merchandise will be delayed to early June 2022 (see reason below)

Why the delay of the exclusive merchandise?

We had been working closely with a merchandising platform and were almost ready to distribute. However, there were some issues as it relates to the service, and when we performed quality tests, the merchandise did not meet our expectations. We deeply care about quality and providing products worthy of the amount invested by the NEKO Dutch Auction participants at the higher prices, and for this reason, we cannot move forward with the level of quality that was provided to us. As such, we will be ending our relationship with our current vendor, and have already sourced a new vendor that can deliver the high-quality merchandise that the NEKO Dutch Auction Tier Rewards Qualifiers fully deserve.

The claims process for this merchandise will be similar to the sculpture claims process. More details on this will be released soon!

We deeply regret making our Dutch Auction Merchandise Qualifiers wait this long. However, we strive to provide you with an excellent product that will exceed your expectations and blow your mind! 

World of Sipheria Comics

The first edition of the World of Sipheria Comic Series will be released on March 31, 2022!

Available to claim by all Sipher NFT Holders, the first edition comics will share the exciting story of a young INU and an elderly BURU going on an interesting fishing adventure

Without spoiling too much, we’ve included a very early sketch of the comic below. Upon its release, you will see the comic in its full-colored glory, with a crisp art style and some killer dialogue that should immerse you into the story.

The first edition of this Comic Series will have three issues, each released at the end of every month. After the release of the first issue on March 31, 2022, you should be receiving two more issues during April and May 2022. Stay tuned for more teasers of Comic Issue #1 before March 31, 2022!

Sneak Peek: Early sketch (one page) of the first edition of World of Sipheria comic series

Spaceships

We have been listening to community concerns and want to ensure that your Spaceships are delivered smoothly and that you can take advantage of a seamless experience that utilizes gas-efficient solutions. As such, we’re excited to say that Spaceships will be available to claim by Late March!

Available to claim by Genesis Sipher NFT Holders, these Spaceships will play a huge role in adding value. Not only will Spaceships have cosmetic benefits and in-game utility, but ****you can also convert a full-set Spaceship into an equipable item, which you could equip into one of your character’s equipment slots. As such, this confirms that completing a Spaceship before the game will be an early benefit for all holders (guaranteed that all holders will have multiple spaceships ready when game launch comes) and that doing so will have specific in-game utility. Additionally, they shall be fully tradeable in the open market.

As of now, the Spaceship landing page (pun intended) details, and all the mechanics such as Spaceship types, rarity levels, and “gacha” mechanics have all been finalized. Our Blockchain Team is currently in the final stages of development and testing of the on-chain and off-chain hybrid system that will further help reduce gas fees for our Sipher NFT holders. This is in addition to utilizing L2 Solutions (Polygon), which will further reduce gas fee costs to claim Spaceship loot in the most gas-efficient manner possible! After the Blockchain Team has completed their testing, we will release a confirmed date on the minting of the spaceship loot!

Stay tuned for a more detailed announcement into the Spaceships, what they look like, and more information about their future in-game uses in approximately 2 weeks’ time

This is an example of different rarities for one of our spaceship types!

Sipher Loyalty Program

Although we haven’t described this program in detail yet, this is another of the initiatives that we’ve been working on behind the scenes.

What is this “Loyalty Program”?

This program was primarily created to incentivize and reward genuine community engagement and contributions. Additionally, we plan to integrate this with our whole Sipher ecosystem: Discord, our upcoming Sipher Marketplace, our game once it launches, and other avenues within the ecosystem.

Although it is a separate program, it works hand-in-hand with our Nexus Program (Nexus Program) given that certain actions such as voting and creating projects can be incentivized. The Loyalty Program’s incentivization is made possible by “gamification” of actions performed by users of our Sipher Ecosystem, and most importantly, our community members. The “gamification” involves a combination of “Community XP” (XP for short), leveling up and reaching different tiers, and earning Nanochips (community points). This means that your progress is dependent on your level of engagement and contributions. Think of it as earning points that allow you to redeem rewards, all for being a loyal member of our Sipher Ecosystem.

When can we expect this?

We originally planned to launch part of the first phase of this program in Q1 2022, starting with Discord-only functionalities. However, due to Discord limitations and ensuring that we have a strong and fully-integrated database and system that works seamlessly throughout our ecosystem (Discord, Sipher website, upcoming Marketplace, etc.), we will be delaying the “Discord-only” functionalities and will include these with the launch of the new and improved User Dashboard that includes the Loyalty System features.

As of now, the first phase of the Loyalty Program, including the new User Dashboard that allows users to complete quests and link to their Discord is expected to launch in April 2022.

v1 of our new SIPHER Dashboard

WIP: New User Dashboard [Dashboard Page] — Final product might be different

World of Sipheria: The Game

PvE Demo

We currently have a playable game client that is utilized internally by our developers for testing purposes. This is the same game client that was showcased in our previous in-development gameplay video. However, we want to provide a better and more polished gameplay experience to our Genesis NFT holders. As such, our Game Demo will be released in Q2 2022 instead of Q1 2022, as was originally planned.

Note that this will happen BEFORE the Launch of the BURU character.

The initial plan was to release this Demo in March 2022. However, as the game began evolving and taking shape, we realized that there were many areas that still needed improvement and that there were some areas that we completely needed to scrap and redo. This is completely natural in the development process of any game. However, we set our timeline too early without considering a proper buffer for improvements and errors made along the way. We sincerely apologize to those who have been eagerly waiting to play our demo this March! 

PvE Mode MVP (Beta; Testnet)

After our Demo is released in Q2 2022, we are planning to launch the PvE Mode’s Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in Q3 2022. This will be an even more polished gameplay experience in which Genesis NFT Holders can try out many dungeons and test skills from their favorite characters such as INUs, NEKOs, and BURUs. This version shall include multiplayer functionalities, and will be launched in a Testnet environment that is expected to have a “test economy” that will further help us ensure that our official game launch has a sustainable economy. We expect to slowly bring our NFT Holders and Legends, most likely in waves based on the character launch, into the game to do some heavy testing whilst we collect feedback along the way.

Official PvE Game Release (Mainnet)

The MVP of the PvE mode is expected to last a few months, after which we will officially launch SIPHER on Mainnet once our team is satisfied with the quality of the game. We will confirm an official release date closer to launch!

Get ready for the BURU Smash 

IN SUMMARY

You can find a summary of all the expected changes below. Note: this can also be viewed in our Roadmap

Phase 5: January — March 2022

In-Development Gameplay Video — Very early Gameplay video

$SIPHER Token Claim for Eligible NFT Holders — Please see $SIPHER Retroactive Airdrop for more details; Claiming began on March 1, 2022

Spaceship Loot — Commencing late March 2022. Get ready to claim and assemble your very own spaceship to trade and use in-game!

World of Sipheria Comic Series — Launch of Comic NFTs, free Mint per Genesis Sipher NFT. By holding a Comic NFT, users can have access to the comics for life. The release of the First Chapter, is expected in late March 2022. After this first chapter, the following chapters will be released on a monthly basis.

Alpha Gameplay Trailer — A more polished gameplay trailer that will include your favorite characters: INU, NEKO, and BURU! The trailer will include some in-game snippets that are screen-captured directly from the internal testing game client. This will be released either end of March, or during April 2022.

Phase 6: April — June 2022

Sculptures Claim for Dutch Auction Tier Rewards — Claim your Sculpture NFT and redeem your physical sculptures for delivery!

Merchandise Claim for Dutch Auction Tier Rewards — Get your exclusive SIPHER merchandise and show off to your friends or express your love to Sipheria!

Launch of Playable DEMO for SIPHER — Give it a try! Use your Genesis Sipher NFT in-game, and check out how it feels to be a Sipherian!

Sipherian Charge: Sipher Buru — 10,000 Playable characters as NFTs — Creation of the third citizens of Sipheria, the Sipher BURUs. These playable characters are beautifully illustrated. This third citizen is aptly named “Sipherian Charge”, with all the characters belonging to the Sipher’s third race: BURU

Sipher Loyalty Program — Earn XP and Nanochips, level up, and show off your earned tier by engaging within the community!

Launch of Sipher Marketplace

World of Sipheria Comic Series — Release of additional Chapters.

Phase 7: July — September 2022

Launch of Sipherian Adventure PvE MVP — a COOP Dungeon Gamemode MVP = Minimum Viable Product. Not the complete product or game.

Players will be able to control Sipher characters and venture into Dungeons to gather Ather, Vessel Cores**,** and other valuable in-game resources.

Some quests will require a team of 3 Siphers (players), or played with a single Sipher (solo) in order to be completed. Some quests will require different combinations of Siphers with special sub-racial traits or classes.

This MVP is expected to include:

• Two dungeon-filled worlds (planets) to explore
• Over 100 playable dungeon rooms
• Playable by INU, NEKO, and BURU, each with various skills

World of Sipheria Comic Series — Release of additional Chapters.

Release information on Sipheria Land

Phase 8: October — December 2022

Official Game Launch (PvE)

Launch of Sipher NFT Protocol — Rent, lend, or borrow Sipher NFTs!

Launch of Ranked PvE Leaderboard

Launch of Crafting Feature

Launch of Cloning Feature

Launch of PvE Guild Wars

Phase 9: January 2023 and Onwards

PvP Gameplay Demo‌

Regular release of in-game content — Launch of new costumes, weapons, new dungeons, map modes, and/or new playable race

Launch of Sipherian Brawl PvP — A Online Battle Arena Gamemode MVP

Launch of Ranked PvP Leaderboard

Launch of Sipher PvP Money Prize Tournaments — Establish Tournaments across multiple key markets with Prize Pools in $SIPHER along with Sponsorships

Launch Sipheria Land

Launch of Sipherian Worlds — A Persistent Online Sandbox Gamemode

World of Sipheria Comic Series — Continued periodic release until the end of December.

That’s all folks! Thank you for tuning in to our latest roadmap update and sticking with us throughout our journey. We’re excited to continue building the World of Sipheria by your side! 

Sipher Website: https://sipher.xyz
Sipher Links: https://linktr.ee/sipherxyz
We are actively hiring! If you ♥ gaming and making great games, Join us at Sipher: https://careers.sipher.xyz/

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